Would be cool if like Supercross the points leader has a red out line around their number. It shows up on the new points leader's bike the next race if it changes, an aspect of Supercross/Motocross i enjoy seeing.

If he goes for a number with history, he might pick Jochen Rindt's number as he said a couple of times he was one of his F1 idols.

As I liked Rindt and do not like Vettel much, I'm glad there is no such thing as Rindt's number. Or is there? He won Le Mans with #21, he used #80 in Indy, had multitude numbers in F2 and F1. Even in '70 he used numbers 5, 6, 10, 12 - maybe more. Iirc in those older times race organizers invited teams to the race and with those invitations appointed numbers to teams.

I like the idea of teams keeping their own numbers .All the talk of #27 is overblown. Get outta the past. Gilles isn't coming back, unfortunately. Too many questions of what drivers want what numbers. Maybe it's Hamilton and Vettel who are to blame.The incesent whinning of " I can't tell the drivers apart". And "He changes his helmet too much". I'd Just MAKE THE NUMBERS BIGGER AND MORE VISIBLE. That way the drivers can have their own style and individualism with their lids. Everybody wants 27, or 69, or 71 if you go that way(wink-wink). Most of the teams are going to be around longer than the drivers anyway.

Would be cool if like Supercross the points leader has a red out line around their number. It shows up on the new points leader's bike the next race if it changes, an aspect of Supercross/Motocross i enjoy seeing.

Red Plates in F1? No. Agree it is awesome in Supercross - "in Supercross" being the operative words. I wouldn't like it. Also, I don't like that it switches immediately to a points leader - that should start after the reigning champ rides it a while. In F1 it would be more difficult to see. Plus if the WDC didn't run the #1, they may wish to do something special with his number to designate he is WDC.

As I liked Rindt and do not like Vettel much, I'm glad there is no such thing as Rindt's number. Or is there? He won Le Mans with #21, he used #80 in Indy, had multitude numbers in F2 and F1. Even in '70 he used numbers 5, 6, 10, 12 - maybe more. Iirc in those older times race organizers invited teams to the race and with those invitations appointed numbers to teams.

I don't know if he had an iconic number, I wasn't even born then, I just commented that if he had one, SV would go for it because he was one of his heros.

Vettel will probably use #1 next season, but as a permanent number he might like #33 (the number on his first kart) or #66

Red Plates in F1? No. Agree it is awesome in Supercross - "in Supercross" being the operative words. I wouldn't like it. Also, I don't like that it switches immediately to a points leader - that should start after the reigning champ rides it a while. In F1 it would be more difficult to see. Plus if the WDC didn't run the #1, they may wish to do something special with his number to designate he is WDC.

There is not a red plate in the first round. Has nothing to do with reigning champ unless he is the points leader.

I like the idea of teams keeping their own numbers .All the talk of #27 is overblown. Get outta the past. Gilles isn't coming back, unfortunately. Too many questions of what drivers want what numbers. Maybe it's Hamilton and Vettel who are to blame.The incesent whinning of " I can't tell the drivers apart". And "He changes his helmet too much". I'd Just MAKE THE NUMBERS BIGGER AND MORE VISIBLE. That way the drivers can have their own style and individualism with their lids. Everybody wants 27, or 69, or 71 if you go that way(wink-wink). Most of the teams are going to be around longer than the drivers anyway.

Marketing is whats in a number. Nuthin new to motorsport of course but its huge business and will give the drivers their own marketing image away from the teams. This has the potential to be a real game changer for the top drivers

Which is why the permanent numbering should be given to the teams and not the drivers. Making the driver the owner of the number does not benefit the team.

So what, sorry I favor the drivers having the numbers.

I didnt really like the idea of permanent numbers when they introduced them into motocross but it clearly lets the fans identify with the riders, it doesnt matter if Ricky Carmichael was riding Suzuki, Yamaha or Kawasaki he was always number 4 and from the riders point of view thats huge, so much so that RC didnt even use the number 1 plate when it was available to him, preferring to use his own number 4 plate. That wouldn't have made Suzuki very happy as they would have liked to have the number 1 on their bike but it demonstrates the power of having a brand like that for the individual.

People keep asking that. So far the FIA has not specified what would happen when a driver leaves F1.

The sensible thing to do would be to have a grace period of a few years where a number remains assigned to a driver so that in the unlikely event of a return he'd be able to resume racing under his old number, but after that time expires the number would become available.

Perhaps it won't work like that. Perhaps the number will be available right from the moment the driver leaves, which realistically would probably mean it stays with him for one year as often driver line-ups remain undecided later than the official entry lists are published.

We simply don't know and there's no reason to decide until the end of 2014 anyway.

People keep asking that. So far the FIA has not specified what would happen when a driver leaves F1.

The sensible thing to do would be to have a grace period of a few years where a number remains assigned to a driver so that in the unlikely event of a return he'd be able to resume racing under his old number, but after that time expires the number would become available.

Perhaps it won't work like that. Perhaps the number will be available right from the moment the driver leaves, which realistically would probably mean it stays with him for one year as often driver line-ups remain undecided later than the official entry lists are published.

We simply don't know and there's no reason to decide until the end of 2014 anyway.

I think there should be a separate rule for world champions... Their numbers should be "retired" for 10 years or so after they finish driving.

Marketing is whats in a number. Nuthin new to motorsport of course but its huge business and will give the drivers their own marketing image away from the teams. This has the potential to be a real game changer for the top drivers

I don't think anyone sells more merchandise because they can now tack on a number.

According to dave39m it is.

Ross you should know better than anyone being a Nascar fan what having a driver identified number has to do with selling t-shirts, bumper stickers, baby shirts, grills, bed linens,etc.,etc.................I think it's cheesy, and an obvious greed factor not just to tell the drivers apart. How could I'd have been so naive not to think F1 was taking ideas from Nascar. Silly me.

Ross you should know better than anyone being a Nascar fan what having a driver identified number has to do with selling t-shirts, bumper stickers, baby shirts, grills, bed linens,etc.,etc.................I think it's cheesy, and an obvious greed factor not just to tell the drivers apart. How could I'd have been so naive not to think F1 was taking ideas from Nascar. Silly me.

Or MotoGP. Works brilliantly there. I could be wrong, but it isn't exactly the same as NASCAR. Drivers don't have permanent numbers in NASCAR, teams do. So when a driver moves teams, their number changes. In MotoGP, and in F1 as of next year, even if a driver moves team he'll still retain the same number.

It works brilliantly in MotoGP. How many #46, #99 or even #93 flags do you see in the crowd at MotoGP races? Loads. Makes far more sense than buying merchandise with a number on that will most likely have changed by next year.

Ross you should know better than anyone being a Nascar fan what having a driver identified number has to do with selling t-shirts, bumper stickers, baby shirts, grills, bed linens,etc.,etc.................I think it's cheesy, and an obvious greed factor not just to tell the drivers apart. How could I'd have been so naive not to think F1 was taking ideas from Nascar. Silly me.

But do you need the numbers to do that? Are Alonso hat sales suddenly going to surge because it will have the same number every year? If anything changing the numbers means you need to update your gear...

If anything changing the numbers means you need to update your gear...

You don't think they wont bring out new styles each year that people just must have. This ain't something new, its been a huge business for a long time. Marketing people will be all over this at the moment getting designs and manufacturing ready as soon as possible to get these products into the fans hands.

Sorry, I'm too lazy to search through the whole thread, but has there been any talk at all of making the numbers more visible? If not, then I think personal numbers are meaningless. When I watch a NASCAR race it's obvious what number Tony Stewart is, it covers the whole damn roof. I watched every race and every qualifying session this year and I have no idea what number Kimi was running.

Sorry, I'm too lazy to search through the whole thread, but has there been any talk at all of making the numbers more visible? If not, then I think personal numbers are meaningless. When I watch a NASCAR race it's obvious what number Tony Stewart is, it covers the whole damn roof. I watched every race and every qualifying session this year and I have no idea what number Kimi was running.

There was no point to prominently expose the numbers as they were. From now on both drivers and teams should actually want to do do so.

Sorry, I'm too lazy to search through the whole thread, but has there been any talk at all of making the numbers more visible? If not, then I think personal numbers are meaningless. When I watch a NASCAR race it's obvious what number Tony Stewart is, it covers the whole damn roof. I watched every race and every qualifying session this year and I have no idea what number Kimi was running.

The numbers "must be clearly visible from the front of the car and on the driver’s crash helmet". They were talking about larger numbers as well, but as of yet, there's nothing in the regulations.

But do you need the numbers to do that? Are Alonso hat sales suddenly going to surge because it will have the same number every year? If anything changing the numbers means you need to update your gear...

What you're missing is that it isn't just hats. No one would have bought the Rossi replica livery scooters or motorcycles if he'd had a new number every year. Permanent numbers for drivers / riders opens up the merchandise market to new types of (more permanent / pricey) things to sell that people are otherwise averse to buy because the number of their favoured driver will change.

Sorry, I'm too lazy to search through the whole thread, but has there been any talk at all of making the numbers more visible? If not, then I think personal numbers are meaningless. When I watch a NASCAR race it's obvious what number Tony Stewart is, it covers the whole damn roof. I watched every race and every qualifying session this year and I have no idea what number Kimi was running.

Of all the F1 drivers, you had to choose the only one whose car number was clearly readable on his helmet

That said, I agree the NASCAR system makes it very easy to distinguish cars, it works very well, although, I don't think it's possible to have such big numbers on an F1 car (cars are too small)